We used to love going to St. Barth. My first customer in the Caribbean back when I was in the Surf Business was a guy named Roger in St Maarten who had a shop on this beautiful stretch of beach on Mullet Bay. Right in the sand it was. After about a year of doing business with him he put me on his Custom Magnum power boat and took me to St, Barth for the first time where he was going to open another shop. It was a different world back in the 80’s and 90’s and St. Barth was this sleepy little island familiar to a few well to do celebs. There were great bars like Le Select in Gustavia and the Eden Rock right on the beach at Baie St. Jean where you could drink Ti Punch and Champagne all day long with the locals. If you were lucky you might catch Jimmy Buffet who was a resident and business owner do a free show.
A bottle of Moet was $12 back then and one of my buddies Randy West who is a very famous catamaran sailor drank nothing but Champagne for an extended period of time. Being watermen and having lived on fresh seafood all our lives we appreciated the fantastic selection of restaurants on the island and this salad was a popular way to start the meal. Almost all the restaurants would end the meal by serving you a (free mind you) Vanilla Rum that they hand crafted themselves. The French have been into infusions for a long time and I remember the big jars filled with tropical fruits and rum that you would see in restaurants and bars around the island. Each restaurant had their own way of doing it and they were very proud of the end result. Ze Best!
